My Precious
by C.Queen
Summary: Modern Setting. Due to an epic breakup years ago, the only contact Thorin and Bilbo have with each other is a result of their four year old son Frodo. Or so they'd tell you if you asked. Then Bilbo makes the mistake of going on a date with this guy he met online, who turns out to be a crazy serial killer...and suddenly Thorin isn't looking so bad in comparison.
1. A Bad Beginning

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way it's gotta be according to the lawyers.

A Bad Beginning

Bilbo Baggins had a date and wasn't happy about it. It had been a very long day, he could feel a headache brewing, and going out to meet some guy he'd met on the internet didn't really sound all that appealing. Because really, if he was going to have a whole night without his son around to require his attention, well then he'd much rather spend it curled up with some hot chocolate in front of the telly, watch an adult movie for once or maybe read a book just for fun instead. For that matter there were a lot of things you didn't have time to do when you had a four year old running around the house, even one as well behaved as his Frodo.

Thank God the boy took after his side of the family that way.

Shaking his head over the thought, Bilbo didn't even want to think about what his life would be like if Frodo was more like his teenage cousins Fili and Kili, who found trouble with remarkable skill wherever they went. Not that Thorin's nephews weren't sweet boys, they were at heart, but…they could also drive a saint to drink and he didn't know how their mother managed to stay sane.

Thinking about them had Bilbo retrieving another plastic container out of a cupboard and turning his attention to transferring some of the Nanaimo bars he'd made for Frodo to take with him to his papa's into the second container for the two to drop off at his aunt's. It would be pure torture for Thorin to do it too, Bilbo thought with wicked glee, imagining the look on his ex's face when he was forced to share. The man loved his Nanaimo bars, and back when they'd been together the man had offered him all sorts of sexual favors in return for a batch of his-dammit.

Wincing, especially since thinking about Thorin and sex at the same time was never a good idea when he was in a sex drought, Bilbo resolutely snapped the container's lid on and put it on top of the larger container that was for Thorin.

Not that he'd gone out of his way to make the man's favorite dessert or anything, and it wasn't like he needed to bribe Thorin to take Frodo since the man loved their son as much as he did…he'd just been in the mood to make them and-

"Daddy, I can't find my new blue shirt."

Looking over at his son Bilbo smiled and assured the little boy that they would find it together, ruffling Frodo's pitch black curls to make him giggle. Hand in hand they headed up the stairs, Frodo obviously wired at the thought that he was going to get to spend a whole day with his papa. It was at times like this that Bilbo felt insanely guilty over the fact that Frodo had never known what it was to live with both his parents. He hadn't even known he was pregnant when he and Thorin had split up, and things had been so nasty between them that Frodo had been three months old before he'd finally gone to his ex to inform him that he was a father.

To say Thorin had hit the roof over the news was like saying the man's friend Bombur might need to go on a diet.

But it had been Thorin's fault they'd broken up in the first place, and the stubborn arse had said he never wanted to see him again, so to this day Bilbo still thought his decision to keep mum about the whole thing until after there was no chance of miscarrying from stress had been the wisest choice.

Feeling another lance of pain, nothing amped up one of his headaches like thinking about the biggest life headache he'd had to date, Bilbo sighed and wished again, for the billionth time, that he hadn't let himself be roped into promising his friend Hamish that he would go on at least one date before the month ended. And it was the thirtieth, so…he was stuck.

Plus if he backed out on the whole thing Thorin would find out somehow, and then his ex would make some crack that would have them fighting like two wet cats in a sack and that wasn't good for Frodo. Not that Thorin was doing any better than him when it came to dating, at least according to what he'd picked up from Frodo and conversations with mutual friends, but then that had always been Thorin's problem. Married to his precious company, Erebor always coming first, second and third in Thorin's books unless you were talking about Frodo, who was the apple of his father's eye.

And yeah, Bilbo was still bitter he hadn't been able to compete with the man's stupid company. A little.

Okay, maybe a lot.

"Are you okay, Daddy? You've got a weird face on."

"I'm fine, Darling. Just thinking about how much I'll miss you when you're at your Papa's."

Pleased to hear it Frodo pointed out that his daddy could just come with him and they could all have a pizza and video game night at papa's. He was sure papa wouldn't mind.

"Not tonight, Darling. Maybe some other time."

)

Keeping his eyes peeled for small children, pets, and people who didn't have the sense to look where they were going, Thorin Durin drove through the heavily residential area with a smile on his face. It had been far too long since he'd seen his son and brief phone calls and quick meals were hardly adequate, especially when his boy didn't even live with him part time. But Bilbo had made it clear he'd fight him tooth and nail if he even thought of petitioning for joint custody of Frodo, and even he had to admit that he understood his ex's reasoning there. Someone as young as his Frodo needed a solid base and routine, something he couldn't offer with his often crazy work schedule. Bilbo worked from home and set his own hours, currently keeping his workload light enough that he never had to miss some preschool event or wasn't there to nurse Frodo back to health when their boy was sick.

And thinking about his ex on top of the fact that he certainly was never going to win father of the year was too depressing for words. Things were a lot better between them these days, mostly because they'd called a ceasefire for their son's sake and made a deliberate point to only talk about Frodo or ordinary things, but it was still a strain to be around Bilbo even at the best of times. Especially at the best of times, actually, because then his treacherous mind couldn't help but think that this was the life they could have had together with their son if things hadn't all gone to hell in a bloody basket on them.

But facts were facts, and some old wounds never healed, it seemed.

Pulling up beside the small house Bilbo had bought when Frodo had been two, the stubborn man had refused to let him buy the two something bigger and in a better neighborhood, Thorin nodded in greeting when the front door opened and Bilbo stepped out, not even giving him the chance to get out of his car and greet him properly first. As per usual.

And then there was Frodo, all but bouncing with glee, and Thorin felt his smile return, love for his son overshadowing every other thought. Because whatever pain he and Bilbo had caused each other, and they'd done some serious damage, one thing they'd always agreed on was that Frodo was worth every minute they'd spent fighting.

While Frodo ran over to open the back door to throw his back pack in and then climb in after it, Bilbo walked over to the driver's side, Thorin rolling down the window to see what parent orders the other man had to give him before they could head back to his place.

And then Bilbo was holding two containers towards him and Thorin saw what was in them, the blue eyes he'd passed on to their son immediately brightening. Taking them Thorin asked why he was being bribed, more than happy to fall in line if it got him these. It had been forever since he'd had them.

"You aren't. The top one's for Dis and the boys. The rest, I just felt like making them and I thought you'd be happy to take some off my hands so that Frodo and I don't eat them all."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"So who's your date with? Anyone I know?" Bilbo had texted him three days ago asking if he could take Frodo because he had a date, but that was all the info he'd gotten. Not that he would care who his ex was dating normally, but he had to take an interest since anyone Bilbo dated came into contact with Frodo. You could never be too careful these days after all, and he was just looking out for his son.

"No one you know, no. He's a regular on Middle Earth."

Thorin knew that Middle Earth was an online RPG that Bilbo had helped some friends of his create in university, and the other man still played it occasionally and gave his friends feedback and suggestions. And though he was pretty sure Bilbo had more sense Thorin asked him if he'd met this guy in person before.

"This will be the first meeting, actually."

"Are you out of your-" Thorin just barely managed to cut himself off in mid roar due to Frodo's presence, the boy having stopped in the middle of doing up the buckles on his car seat to blink at them owlishly. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?" He all but hissed in his struggle not to yell.

"We're meeting in a public place, Thorin, and it's just dinner. I'll be fine."

Hundreds of arguments, orders and demands welled up on the tip of his tongue, Thorin having to swallow them all down not just because of Frodo's presence, but because he knew damn well that Bilbo would do the opposite of what he wanted him to just to spite him if he put his ex's back up too much. So in the end he had to settle for asking, through grinched teeth and as politely as possible, for Bilbo to at least call him when he got home so that he'd know he'd gotten back okay.

Thorin could see that Bilbo wanted to argue, but Frodo being there worked in his favor this time since naturally Bilbo wanted to head off the argument that would brew if he didn't agree to make the phone call. So he did, sounding very exasperated as he promised.

Knowing that he'd have to be satisfied with that, Thorin thanked him for the consideration only a little sarcastically and then stated they should be heading out, his nephews were waiting for them in the game room.

"Bye, bye, Daddy!"

"Bye, Darling. You be good for your papa, alright?"

"I will."

"That's my boy. Have a good night, Thorin. I'll remember to call before turning in."

"Have a good night." He echoed, though he'd be just fine if this date tanked the way Bilbo's generally did.

)

He really, really should have canceled this date, Bilbo thought hours later as he tried not to look completely and totally repulsed by the man who was sitting across from him, watching him with eyes that made his skin crawl. Of course he hadn't exactly been thrilled to find out that the picture he'd been sent of the guy was far from accurate, the man before him bald instead of with shoulder length black hair, his cheekbones far more prominent and pale as a ghost instead of lightly tanned. But no, it was Sméagol Stoor's eyes that unnerved him the most and reminded Bilbo of every article he'd ever read in the paper or heard on the news about people who'd ended up dead or kidnapped by human traffickers after meeting with someone they'd met online.

Plus the way the other man had kept urging him to sample the pre-poured wine earlier, when he'd arrived to find his date already waiting for him, made him suspicious as hell now, not to mention very glad he'd felt the need to take the pills his doctor prescribed him for his worst headaches, which didn't mix well with alcohol so his glass remained untouched. He was tempted to come up with some excuse to leave, like feigning illness or pretending to receive a text that his son was sick and he needed to head home, but he couldn't shake the fact that Stoor was too observant not to see through a lie.

Hoping to make time go by faster Bilbo struggled to find something to talk about, settling for the first thing that came to mind seeing as the man kept drawing his attention to it anyway. "That's a lovely ring you're wearing. A family heirloom?"

"It's my precious." Was the creepy creep's response, the smile revealing once again that the man's dental hygiene was bad even for a Brit. "I-got it from my cousin a few years back. I never take it off."

"Ah. Well it's lovely. Family's very important."

"Thank you."

The smile on Stoor's face was more unnerving than a glare from Thorin in Bilbo's opinion, and that was really saying something.

"Speaking of family, you have a son, don't you? Someone mentioned it while we were on a quest together on 'Middle Earth'."

"Yes, I do. He's four. He's with his father tonight-which is why I won't be able to stay too late, I'm afraid. I have to pick him up." And he really didn't like the idea of this creep knowing about Frodo at all, but he wasn't above using Thorin, especially since he was beginning to think the man hadn't been wrong to call him crazy for making a date with someone he'd met online. "He's expecting me at nine, maybe you've heard of him? Thorin Durin?"

"The president of Erebor, of course. Who hasn't?"

"Yes, he's still cursing the fact that he keeps being named one of London's most eligible bachelors." What went unsaid was that everyone knew Thorin had also been in the military, had an impressive as hell physique, and was known to be insanely possessive and protective of people and things that belonged to him. Which meant that if this guy had any brains at all, which Bilbo thought he did, his creepy date from hell had to realize that going crazy on him would have Thorin coming after him like a hound from hell because of Frodo.

Hopefully that his point had been made, and he was not discussing his son with this guy, Bilbo asked Sméagol how he'd gotten into the business of designing puzzle books, which was what the other man had told him he did for a living.

But try as he might the conversation kept coming back to his own personal life, and finally Bilbo gave up and excused himself to go to the loo, pulling out his cell once he was out of sight to text Thorin a message asking him to call him in about ten minutes to pretend that he needed him to come pick up Frodo. He was a horrible liar, Bilbo thought as he grudgingly hit send, so every bit of authenticity he could conjure up would help.

He'd just finished in the loo and washed his hands when his phone went off, which was perfect timing and had him sighing in relief. Pulling the phone out Bilbo accessed the message from Thorin, which demanded to know if he needed to come and get him.

Rolling his eyes even as he smiled a little, Bilbo texted back that he was fine, it was just a bad date and he wanted to get out of it.

Thorin's reply was a statement that yes, he was a horrible liar.

'Thanks for that. I'm going back to the table now'.

'Understood'.

Putting his phone away Bilbo braced himself for another dose of creepiness, making his way back to the table and doing his level best to act like he didn't want to do a happy dance when his phone went off.

"Oh, darn. My sincere apologies, I'm horrible with electronics. I thought I'd turned it to silent before I got in." Taking the phone out Bilbo deliberately glanced at the front. "And double apologies, but it's Thorin, so I need to take this. It might be about Frodo." Accepting the call and then bringing it up to his ear, Bilbo hoped he didn't sound too glad when he asked Thorin what he could do for him.

"Well for starters, you could not date arseholes you've picked up on the bloody internet."

"Drat, I was afraid of that. He did seem a little off before you picked him up. How high's his temperature?"

"Dis and the boys say thanks for the bars, before I forget. And how long are you going to drag this conversation on for, anyway?"

"Okay, fine, I get it. I'll head out now and be there in twenty minutes. Just keep an eye on him and call me if anything changes."

"Don't forget to call when you get back to your place or I'll tan your freckled arse tomorrow."

Clicking off his phone Bilbo didn't have to work at looking annoyed and frustrated. "Looks like I have to apologize yet again, I'm afraid I have to run. My son's sick and Thorin goes to absolute pieces when that happens. Of course he's also the biggest baby when HE'S sick but-sorry, again." Getting to his feet Bilbo retrieved his wallet and pulled out a bunch of bills. "Dinner's on me, and thank you again for asking me out this evening. I'm sorry we had to cut it short."

"No need to pay, you hardly touched your dinner." Scary smile again. "I've got this; I hope we'll be seeing each other again. Soon."

Not if he had anything to say about it, Bilbo thought with a strained smile in return.

Surely he couldn't be that unlucky.


	2. Protective Parents

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way it's gotta be.

Protective Parents

A little over a week after his no good, very bad date, Bilbo had decided that he was never, ever going to date anyone he met online ever again. Unless it was Russell Crowe, Gerard Butler, or Richard Armitage. He'd make exceptions there, but no one else. And no one who played RPGs or was bald. He was off bald men for life. He was literally so traumatized by the whole thing that he was starting to get an upset stomach every time he so much as saw a man without hair. The creepy feeling he'd gotten from his date was still hanging around too, so that he sometimes felt like he was being watched and his sleeping patterns were currently shot to hell. So yeah, been there, done that, never again.

Which was why he was stocking up on Heavenly Hash ice cream as he and Frodo made their way through their neighborhood grocer's that Tuesday morning. Ice cream was a poor substitute for a decent shag, but at this point he was more than willing to settle.

Speaking of Frodo…what was taking the boy so long? Probably gazing at all the candy also on display in the aisle that housed his son's favorite biscuits, Bilbo surmised with an indulgent smile, which was where Frodo had gone off to, to retrieve them since he liked to get his 'own' groceries himself.

Continuing down his aisle Bilbo had just reached for a package of frozen peas when he heard the sound of little feet running, which had him looking up and over with the intention of reminding his son that he wasn't supposed to run in the shop. Or that was his intention right up until the boy all but barreled into him, squeezing between him and the cart.

"Frodo! What on earth?"

Wrapping one arm around his daddy, his other cradled his biscuits protectively against his chest, Frodo craned his neck back to see his daddy's face properly. "There's a scary person over there."

Immediately going into overprotective parent mode, especially since he'd been so recently reminded of the evils that lived in men, Bilbo's fingers clenched into fists as he demanded to know if the scary person had hurt Frodo.

Frodo shook his head. "He try to give me candy. I said no. He was too scary."

Eyes still flashing with the intent to tear to shreds anyone who messed with his kid, Bilbo lifted Frodo up and put him in the cart, and then he pushed it in the direction of the treats aisle, no scary person there when he arrived to confront the man.

Annoyed, but also relieved since he'd had to bring Frodo with him, Bilbo shook his head and then pointed out to his son that the scary person was gone.

Looking around Frodo nodded in agreement, obviously relieved.

The man was gone, yes, but Bilbo's thoughts couldn't help but turn to the fact that there were other kids in the store besides Frodo. Little ones who might not have the same instincts as Frodo when it came to judging people, or the knowledge that taking things from strangers wasn't a good idea. He knew the owner of the place, maybe he should hunt him up and say something.

"Frodo, what did the scary man look like?" That could be important. "Did he have hair like yours or mine? Was he very tall or short?"

The little boy's face scrunched up in concentration. "No hair, and he was like you. He didn't have any muscles like Papa, he was real skinny. His teeth were pointy, and he doesn't brush. Good boys brush."

Paling, the description all too familiar and sending chills down his spine, Bilbo wasn't even aware of how tightly he was gripping the cart's handle until he let go and felt the ache. And though he wanted to believe it was a coincidence, and maybe it actually was, Bilbo sure as hell wasn't going to bet his son's wellbeing on it.

Saying a mental to hell with his other planned purchases, Bilbo directed the cart towards the front of the shop and moving it off to the side picked up Frodo, placed him on his hip, and then went over to the owner of the store, who was thankfully stocking at the moment and had time to chat. Quickly Bilbo explained what had happened in the aisle, and his worry that it might have been an unpleasant person he'd met a week before that he thought might be dangerous. Naturally the owner was just as upset and he left them briefly to look over his shop himself for signs of the man, though he didn't find any which was of some relief. When Bilbo asked about security cameras the owner showed him to the back room where they could review the feed, the images of the 'scary man' not clear enough for Bilbo to make a positive ID. But the owner was willing to give him a copy when he asked anyway, asking him what he would do with it since he doubted the guarda would be able to do much with what they had.

"I'm going to give it to Thorin." Was Bilbo's cool response. "And then I'm going to sic him on this guy."

)

Coming out of the conference room, talking to his company's lawyers never a pleasant way to spend a couple hours, Thorin took one look at the expression on his assistant's face and knew that something was up. He couldn't tell if she had good or bad news for him though, and so he approached with trepidation, even more when he saw through the glass that Dwalin, his chief of security, was in his office even though they didn't have a meeting scheduled.

"Alright, what's going on?"

"Your-ah-Mr. Baggins called and asked for some of your time. He should be here in about five minutes and he's bringing Frodo." That at least would make her boss happy. Meetings with Mr. Baggins generally didn't, though that hadn't been the case originally. Either way she figured this meeting would be better than most since Frodo would be around to keep his parents in line. Though why Dwalin was here...

Asking her precisely that question, Thorin frowned when she couldn't give him an answer. Just that Bilbo had called the other man too and asked him to come.

Bilbo and Dwalin had gotten along reasonably well back in the day, a talent of his ex's, but the two weren't that friendly and Dwalin was not a good choice for a referee. And even if he was Bilbo didn't like having an audience when they fought. Of course they didn't fight around Frodo either, so yeah, Thorin was completely at sea as to what Bilbo could be up to or planning.

That being the case he opted to head into his office to ask Dwalin what he knew, which was no more than his assistant had. Apparently Bilbo had asked him to meet him here, but had refused to go into any detail since he only wanted to explain things once.

Thankfully they didn't have long to wait, Frodo coming at a run around the corner wearing adorable overalls with a cartoon cat's face on the front, with Bilbo not far behind in what the man thought of as casual wear. He looked better and more professional than Thorin did in his business attire, but he was fine with that since he hated suits as much as Bilbo seemed to love them.

"PAPA!"

Getting out of his chair Thorin scooped his son up and smiled at the smacking kiss he was given. "Hey, You." Rubbing Frodo's back Thorin turned his attention to Bilbo. "This is a surprise."

"I need to talk to you." Bilbo's voice was all business. "Frodo, I need you to go wait with your papa's assistant. Sit quietly in one of the chairs and when your papa and I are done talking you can come in and talk to him too."

"Wanna stay with Papa." Stubbornly Frodo tightened his arms around Thorin's neck.

Naturally he wanted to keep Frodo right where he was, but Thorin didn't miss the look Bilbo was giving him, nor could he ignore the feeling he was getting in his gut that said something was up that he needed to deal with. So with regret he informed Frodo that he better do as his daddy said. No one was more stubborn than Bilbo.

"Nah ah." Frodo shook his head. "You're worse, Papa."

Struggling to hide his amusement Bilbo pulled out his ultimate parenting voice. "Frodo, I need you to go wait for us. Now."

Both Thorin and Frodo knowing that tone well, the former setting the latter back on his feet, Frodo dragging them all the way to the office door. And just to make his feelings clear the boy looked back at them once he'd reached the door, giving them his best puppy dog eyes before sighing dramatically.

Shaking his head Bilbo closed the door behind the boy.

"It's a wonder he doesn't have ya both wrapped around his little fingers, eyes like that." Shaking his head Dwalin felt awful for not letting the boy stay, and he wasn't even the one who'd told the lad he had to go.

"It's not easy." Thorin told him wryly before looking over at Bilbo, his eyes hardening a little. "Why did you bring him, if he has to stay outside?"

"Because he's safe outside. And don't start yelling at me, Thorin, especially since I haven't even told you why you have just cause to yell at me. This will go a lot faster and easier if you just let me start from the beginning to catch Dwalin up, and then I'll explain why we're here."

When both men nodded Bilbo took a seat, Dwalin retaking his and Thorin leaning back against his desk, motioning for Bilbo to go ahead.

"Thank you. So to begin I went on a date last week that I ended abruptly, with Thorin's help, by having him phone me and pretend Frodo was sick. You asked me about him when I called you from the house, and I lied about why I wanted out of it. The truth is…he scared the hell out of me."

Thorin was practically a blur as he took the couple strides necessary to reach Bilbo, reaching out to cup Bilbo's cheek and tilt the man's head up so that their eyes met as he demanded to know if the bastard had put his hands on him.

"No. No." In a move that was habit, the nostalgia of where they were kicking in, Bilbo lifted a hand to place it over Thorin's. "He didn't. It was his-well everything about him really, but his eyes in particular. I always thought Azog's eyes were the worst, you could see just how much pleasure he took in crushing people just for fun, but this man…I don't think he's altogether sane."

Coming to the most logical conclusion, Dwalin stated that the man was bothering him, wasn't he?

"He emailed me a few times, trying to reschedule our date, asking how Frodo was but I put him off and then in my last response, which would have been Thursday, I told him I wasn't interested and I blocked him online. I thought that would be the end of it."

Biting back a variety of curses Thorin demanded to know what had happened.

"The whole thing creeped me out, so when I felt like I was being watched I just thought it was me being paranoid and freaking myself out. But then today…" Bilbo swallowed hard. "Frodo went to get his biscuits at the grocer's, and when he came back he said a scary man tried to give him candy. I asked him what the man looked like and I think…I think it was him. I think he either followed us or knows where we live and he tried to get near Frodo."

Now Thorin let loose with the swearing, in several different languages, as he let Bilbo go so that he could stomp around his office space, unable to stay still. Moving didn't help though, his brain refusing not to formulate mental images of what could have happened to Bilbo and his son if both hadn't been smart enough to get the hell aware from this soon to be very dead arsehole. His swearing and dark planning only grew in volume as it continued to sink in, his words making Dwalin whistle in appreciation while Bilbo alternated between wincing and showing dumbfounded shock when he actually understood what Thorin was saying he intended to do to with the bastard when he got ahold of him.

Sensing it would be a while before his boss reigned himself in, Dwalin turned his attention to Bilbo, asking him what info he had on this guy.

Reaching into his pocket Bilbo pulled out his iPhone, and after a few swipes and button pressing asked Dwalin where he wanted it sent to. Typing in the address he was given Bilbo waited until the file he'd cobbled together was sent before he continued. "The picture in here isn't him, or at least not him anymore. There were enough similarities that it might have been him or someone related to him, but that's not how he looks now. He's bald, really, really pale, and skinny, really bad teeth."

"And you went out with this guy?"

Bilbo glared at Thorin. "He doesn't look nearly as bad in the picture he sent, and I didn't have a lot of options since I waited until the last minute to get a date like I promised Hamish I would. He'd been asking and asking on Middle Earth for a date, I thought I was killing two birds with one stone!"

Trying to head off a fight, Dwalin stated that it wouldn't be a good idea for Bilbo and Frodo to stay in their house. Personal information was way too easy to find these days, and though he'd personally overseen the security on Bilbo's house at Thorin's insistence, and it was damn good, there were always ways to get through if you were determined enough.

"I packed bags for both of us before we came here."

"A hotel won't have-"

Bilbo cut Thorin off. "I thought we'd stay with you."

"What?"

"If it was just me it would be another story, but it isn't. He approached Frodo, tried to get close to our son." Bilbo's voice was almost as hard and ruthless as Thorin's had been moments before. "Neither you nor I could handle not having him close knowing he might be in danger, so we'll stay with you until you're sure it's safe for us to go home. If that's alright with you."

Struck dumb, it was a rare thing when he got what he wanted from Bilbo without having to fight for it now, Thorin nodded his head, words beyond him.

After going over a few things Dwalin promised to review the information and find out everything he could about Stoor, leaving Bilbo and Thorin alone together in the office so that he could get started on his search. Thorin took Dwalin's seat so that they were sitting side by side facing his desk, both quiet as Thorin continued to absorb everything and Bilbo waited for the other man to tear into him about how this was all his fault and that if something had happened to Frodo earlier that would have been on his head too.

Eventually realizing Thorin wasn't going to do that, Bilbo prompted him, since he deserved to be yelled at and berated and he'd rather face it now then wait and imagine what was to come. "Aren't you going to yell at me more?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you'd sooner kill yourself in the most painful ways your innocent mind could devise than allow Frodo to come to harm. I know that. This wasn't your fault, and you came to me even though that was probably the last thing you wanted to do. For him. I'm saving my fury for the one who deserves it."

Not sure what to say to that, Bilbo just nodded and then got to his feet, walking over to the door to call Frodo in.

Eager to do that Frodo came barrelling in to climb into his papa's lap, not sure why he was being hugged so hard but quite happy to return the gesture.

)

Two of Dwalin's best men were assigned to escort Bilbo and Frodo to Thorin's house, seeing them both inside and remaining on the main floor to stand guard while Bilbo put away the groceries they'd brought with them so they wouldn't go to waste. Once that was done he prepared a quick lunch for the two of them, and then it was time to take Frodo upstairs for a nap. He'd had way too much excitement unexpectedly, and Frodo didn't even try to argue about the need to lie down for a little hile. His room here was twice the size of the one he had at home, filled with books and toys and anything he could want, but Frodo hadn't come to play and after being tucked under his covers with his requisite number of stuffed animals he closed his eyes and conked out without a worry in the world.

Envying his son that ability, he wasn't going to be sleeping easy any time soon, Bilbo headed out of the room and carrying his own bag headed for the bedroom he'd slept in the last time he'd been here, when Thorin had gotten a bad winter cold and Frodo had wanted to be around his papa to take care of him. Naturally he'd been the one doing the actual nursing, and hadn't that been fun, but he was also one of the few people on earth that could handle a sick Thorin, so there hadn't been a lot of choice either.

And he had been rewarded, Bilbo thought as his eyes gravitated to the door across from Frodo's. Thorin's bedroom door, remembering. Thorin had finally been on the mend, able to move around and take care of himself, and he'd gone in to bring the man lunch after putting Frodo down for his nap. His attempt to lightly shake Thorin awake had ended with him being yanked onto the bed and under Thorin, who still half asleep and whose body had been more aware than his brain.

Thorin had snogged the hell out of him, grinding their hips together while he did it, so that by the time Thorin was awake enough to realize what was going on…well they'd both been hot and bothered enough to say to hell with being smart and had shagged each other's brains out.

That had been seven months ago, not that he was counting. Nor their first slip since their break up either, come to that.

Yeah…he was so not going to be sleeping easy any time soon.


	3. Home Sweet Home

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the plot and the original characters. Thanks for reading!

Home Sweet Home

Driving home that night Thorin considered it a dark irony that it had taken a stalker to get Bilbo to agree to live in the same house as him. Even when they'd been together the other man had kept his own place. Of course back in those days he'd lived in a crap little apartment, one Bilbo had hated on sight and had proceeded to decorate for him over the course of their five months together before everything had gone to hell in a hand basket. But now here he was, heading home to a big house where dinner would be waiting according to Bilbo, an actual home cooked meal and people waiting for him to eat it with. Not that he didn't have meals with his sister and her boys, he did, but it wasn't the same thing. Not even remotely.

At one time he'd thought this was going to be his life once he finally taken back control over Erebor and stuck it to Smaug. That he and Bilbo would get married, buy a house together and fill it with children. Live happily fucking ever, Thorin thought darkly as he forced down the memories, the remembered pain of when he'd realized none of it was ever to be.

Thank God for Frodo.

To this day Thorin wasn't entirely sure what he'd have become at this point if not for his boy. After the breakup he'd thrown himself into his work like a mad man, living and breathing his business so that he'd basically lived in his office for months on nothing but coffee, cigars, and anger, still licking wounds that just wouldn't heal when Bilbo had randomly showed up at his office and told him that he was a father out of the fucking blue.

He'd asked Bilbo to marry him after his initial meltdown of epic proportions, but naturally his ex had said no because that was just how stubborn and unreasonable Bilbo was. He'd had to settle for the fact that Frodo had his last name, and at least lived in the same city as him which was more than some men in his situation could claim. Or so Bilbo told him whenever they argued, though Thorin was willing to admit that Bilbo was good about making sure that he got to spend time with Frodo.

But this…well it would be interesting to see if this small taste of what could have been healed some wounds, or opened new ones before it was over and the two went back to their own house.

Arriving at his place fifteen minutes later Thorin parked his car in the garage and then headed out again to come in the front door, pleased to find two of his top security guys there as expected.

"Sir."

Nodding in acknowledgement Thorin asked for confirmation that nothing had happened that he needed to know about, Nori confirming that no one except for an expected delivery truck had visited the house. Mr. Baggins, he explained, had ordered groceries delivered as he'd declared the contents of Thorin's kitchen to be either unusable, unhealthy, or not something Frodo would eat.

"I see someone still eats like he's about to go into hibernation when he's worried." Shaking his head over Bilbo's bottomless stomach, he'd never been able to figure out where the man put it all, Thorin brushed off the thought and turned his mind back to the task at hand, thanking them for their work and then telling them they could head out for the night. He'd expect them at seven the next morning.

"Yes, Sir." Nori stated, Bifur just nodding his head since he wasn't much for talking.

"Just hold on a minute there."

All three turned their attention to the main hallway, watching as Bilbo came walking towards them with a grocery sack in his hand, Frodo at his side carrying an identical one in his arms.

"Frodo and I just wanted to thank you both for taking care of us today, we thought saving you the trouble of having to make yourself dinner when you get home is the least we could do."

"We gots roast and tatoes and corn!" Frodo informed them proudly as he carefully made his way to Bifur's side, holding out his sack while Bilbo gave his to Nori, who stuttered out a thank you while Bifur patted Frodo on the head in thanks, both men equally grateful for the fact that they were going to get to sample the food they'd been smelling for the last two hours.

"You made pot roast?" Thorin couldn't help it, he perked right up at just the thought. He loved Bilbo's pot roast, though pretty much anything the other man made was guaranteed to be delicious. When you spent as much time eating as Bilbo did, it was wise to make it yourself or go bankrupt.

"Yes, I did. And don't worry, there's plenty for you to have as sandwiches tomorrow."

"Let's go eat, Papa!" Running over Frodo took Thorin's hand and gave it a tug, tacking on a goodbye to Bifur and Nori when Bilbo reminded him to do so.

Returning the gesture both men smiled and headed out for the night, leaving the other three to walk to the dining room together for their meal and family time.

)

Naturally the reason they were currently living together wasn't discussed at the table, Frodo was there and neither had any intention of scaring him. For the time being, anyway, he was being told that they were staying with Thorin because Thorin wanted to spend more time with him, which the four year old accepted easily and without question. He was just happy they were all together for once, and talked all the way through dinner which kept everything lively and pleasant for his parents. After dinner they played 'Go Fish' because Frodo loved to say that, then it was time for his bath which Bilbo took care of, and then it was time for stories and tuck in, which Bilbo let Thorin handle, taking a backseat as he stood off to the side to listen and then give his own hugs and kisses.

Once they were sure Frodo was going to stay put Bilbo went to the bathroom to finish tiding up the small mess there, the bathtub was big enough for their son to swim in which is precisely what Frodo had been doing. And while the boy was getting pretty good at it, some water had gone flying in the process.

Everything back to rights in short order, Bilbo went to his bedroom and got changed into loose pajama bottoms and a T-shirt, then headed back downstairs to get himself a bowl of ice cream, which he was working on when Thorin appeared in the kitchen, walking over to take a seat beside him.

"Heavenly Hash? Not Cookies and Cream?"

"Yeah, no. Haven't touched that since I was up the duff, food cravings, you know. After three months of eating it most ever day I had to revise my former opinion, and admit that it really is possible to eat too much of that ice cream and get sick of it."

"That would explain why you nearly doubled in size in the end. At least in the pictures it looked like it." The words carried an edge of bitterness, Thorin still mad after all these years that he hadn't been a part of Bilbo's pregnancy.

Wincing, because yes, he had look like a stunted beached whale towards the end of his pregnancy, Bilbo settled for giving Thorin a dark look.

"No need to take offense, you lost it and then some. You're thinner than when we were together."

"Baby yoga."

"What?"

"It was the baby yoga I got talked into signing Frodo and I up for. I got hooked and it keeps me in better shape. Plus a heck of a lot more flexible, I can actually touch my toes these days." Bilbo smiled at the expression that had just crossed Thorin's face, fairly sure that he wasn't flattering himself by guessing that the other man was now thinking of all the ways flexibility could come in handy in the bedroom. But since thinking about that wasn't a good thing for him either, his imagination was even more vivid than Thorin's, Bilbo asked instead what had brought the other man down. Dwalin had been sending him updates, so he knew that so far the information he'd given them was pretty much all they had.

"I came to ask if you'd look over some accounting records for me. Something's gone wrong with them and Balin's out and recovering from hip surgery."

"I know that. I visited him on Monday to take him some frozen potpies and see how he was doing."

"You did?"

"Of course. He's a lovely man, and like a father to you which makes him a sort of grandfather to Frodo, who adores him as well. We've visited him a few times, he probably just didn't mention it to you because talking about me tends to set you off. And on that note, you really want me to have a look at your books? Me, Mr. Lying, Manipulative, Backstabbing, Underhanded Thief who nearly destroyed your precious Erebor before Smaug could."

Regretting the words as soon as they'd left his mouth, Bilbo winced, even more so when he recognized the twitch that appeared under Thorin's eye as a sign that he'd hit a nerve. Hard.

"If we discuss the past we'll wind up bringing the house down arguing, so we are not going down that route, Bilbo. You won't sleep easy tonight anyway, but if you don't want to help then fine."

Poking at what was left of his ice cream Bilbo addressed it as opposed to Thorin, feeling bad now but unwilling to apologize for the moment. "I'm going to finish this, and then I'll meet you in your study. Balin will set back his recovery and come in if he hears things are going wrong in his absence."

"Fine."

Listening to Thorin stomp out, not hard to do given the hardwood flooring, Bilbo lifted up his head once he was sure it was safe, knowing that his face was probably a study in acute misery. It had been a long, long day, and trying to hide just how upset and miserable he was-helping Thorin with his accounting problem was probably a good idea, Bilbo thought to himself with a sigh. It would take his mind off things. Hopefully. If God finally decided to show him just a little pity and understanding.

Ruefully Bilbo acknowledged the fact that he'd thought much the same when six years ago Grey Gandalf, an eccentric businessman his mother had worked for as a personal assistant until her death, had asked him to do him a personal favor. Being the helpful sort, as well as genuinely fond of his mother's former boss, he'd naturally said he'd be happy to help, regretting that as soon as Gandalf had explained the situation.

Erebor had been famous all over their world centuries because of their stunningly beautiful and original jewelry designs, flawless gemstones, and incomparable mining operations all over the globe. In their prime everyone who was anyone owned jewelry from Erebor, but that had all started to change as Thrór Durin came closer and closer to retirement age. His stubborn refusal to keep up with the changing times in terms of technology and trends had costed the company quite a bit, but it was his greed and obsession with increasing his wealth that caused problems as he started to overcharge his consumers and underpay those who worked for him. In the end the shock of Benedict Smaug's company, 'Golden Dragon', knocking him out of top place had led to a heart attack that had killed him and signaled the beginning of the short reign of Thráin II. The man's son was not the businessman his father had been, and he'd broken under the pressure of trying to repair the damage his father had done. He'd struggled for three years before having a breakdown, necessitating that his son Thorin resign from the army to take over and try and do the impossible and save the company.

That Erebor was massively indebt was bad enough, but what was worse was that Smaug had gone around to their creditors and bought them up so that he could demand that the Durins either pay up, or hand Erebor over to him to be absorbed into his own company. The courts had given Thorin six months to pay back the millions owed or lose the company. Gandalf had asked him to go to work for Thorin, having convinced the man that he needed an outsider who wasn't emotionally involved in the company to come in and not only evaluate the situation, but come up with ways for them to generate enough revenue to allow them to not only pay off their debts, but their workers and other expenses.

He hadn't wanted to take the job, it had sounded to him like a damn bad way to start his career as a business consultant, but out of love and a good dose of guilt from Gandalf he'd agreed to join what he'd thought was a doomed company.

Thorin sure as bloody hell hadn't wanted him around, especially after he'd nearly fallen off a cliff while they'd been visiting a mining facility in Australia, necessitating Thorin having to save him. After that it had been safe to say the man had made it clear what he thought of him, which was nothing good. And then Azog, Smaug's evil beyond all descriptions lawyer, had tried to cut down the time Thorin had to pay up and he'd finally been able to do something right in Thorin's eyes, so to speak.

Aka he'd given a speech to the judge about what Erebor meant to Thorin and its employees that had made the woman cry. And after, when the judge had not only ruled in their favor but extended the time Thorin had to come up with the money, Thorin had hugged him and that…that had been the start of their awareness of each other as something more than ginormous thorns they had to put up with.

But like all good things…that hadn't lasted all that long, in the grand scheme of things.

)

Sitting on one side of one of the ugliest but most comfortable couches ever made, Thorin looked up from the paperwork he was reviewing when he heard the sound of his study door being opened. Watching Bilbo walk over to take the other side of the couch, looking annoyingly adorable in his too big for him sleepwear, Thorin noted the laptop bag slugged over one shoulder. He waited until Bilbo had his laptop up and running, and then without a word he pulled a flash drive out of his shirt pocket and handed it over.

Taking it from him Bilbo inserted it into place. "This shouldn't take long, I'm guessing whoever Balin left in charge fibbed when Balin explained his system."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that Balin has a very-unique way of doing things, he had to explain it to me six times before I got it. My guess is his replacement didn't understand but didn't want to admit it the first or second time, so he or she said they got it thinking they could figure it out on their own. Hence your problem."

"But you remember."

"Its uniqueness is hard to forget."

Leaving it at that, he could see that Bilbo was already immersing himself in the files and numbers they held, Thorin allowed himself to watch the other man for a bit, knowing his attention wouldn't be noticed. They'd spent a lot of nights like this on this exact couch, working into the morning with their legs and feet tangled together in the middle, a shared blanket thrown over them. He'd missed it, that ease and connection, being able to look up from his work to see Bilbo still plugging away, or watching him, smiling as their eyes met before they went back to what they were doing.

Allowing himself to fall back into that rhythm for the moment Thorin watched for a minute or two and then went back to his own work, forcing himself to give the papers his full concentration until Bilbo's voice reached his ears, informing him that not only had he fixed the problem, but that he'd sent an email to the man in charge explaining Balin's system and offering his assistance if need be.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Here's the flash drive." A long pause. "I have other work to do…would it be alright if I stayed in here?"

"That's fine."

So it was back to work for both of them, Thorin getting up at one point to retrieve his own laptop before returning to his earlier spot, going to work on that while Bilbo typed away on his own machine, appearing oblivious to the fact that he'd moved. But move they both eventually did, long ago habits and routines hard to break as Bilbo shifted around before ending up with his back braced against the armrest, his sock covered feet resting on the middle cushion. This had Thorin's otherwise engaged brain doing the same, so that he too shifted around so that his bare feet were placed on either side of Bilbo's left leg.

They stayed like that for about an hour, Thorin finally glancing up from his work to give his eyes a break, noticing the position they were in. It made him move without thinking as he deliberately bumped his leg against Bilbo's, smiling automatically when Bilbo glanced up and smiled at him, caught up in the moment as well.

Then the smiles dimmed, and the awkward silence took over.

"I'm glad you kept this couch, even after you moved." Bilbo finally said.

"The decorator I hired to do the house hated it."

"Well it is one of the ugliest couches ever made. She wouldn't have known to factor in its comfort level. You slept on this couch more than your own bed when I knew you." Bilbo's lips quirked into a smile of fond memories. "Actually, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if we conceived Frodo on this couch."

And crap, both thought as the statement hit home, now they'd brought sex into the conversation again.

Not good. Not good at all.


	4. If We Were Couches

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in.

If We Were Couches

Trying to steer the conversation away from sex, or at least break the awkward silence, Bilbo forced a smile onto his face as he tried to fix things. "That being the case, we should wait until he's a teenager and done something particularly bad, and has us both wishing he'd stayed a baby forever, and then sit him on this couch to lecture him and then tell him afterwards that he was conceived on it. If nothing else we can take pictures of his face and use them as blackmail material."

Thorin's deep laughter bounced off the walls, Bilbo's smile in response not forced at all.

"There is that. Though I can't see Frodo getting into that much trouble even as a teenager. After the trouble Fili and Kili have gotten into since they could walk Frodo is going to seem like an angel in disguise even if he takes after me instead of you."

"Hey, I got into trouble too when I was a lad!"

Thorin's eyebrow raised in a gesture that made it clear he figured the worst crime Bilbo had ever committed was maybe jaywalking.

"I have a tattoo, remember?!"

The smirk Thorin had been sporting shifted a little into a leer. "I remember. And a tastefully executed tattoo of a Celtic tree of life on your upper arm doesn't count as a major rebellion. Especially since you didn't get it until university."

Since Thorin had some very sexy tattoos on his body from his time in the army and rebellious teenage years, Bilbo had to take a moment to enjoy those mental images. He had very fond memories of tracing some of that ink with his tongue and dwelled on that for a moment before continuing the conversation, stating that they weren't going to let Frodo have any tattoos until he was eighteen.

"Given that we both have them it would be hard to argue with him about getting one. Plus aren't you friends with a former tattoo artist?"

"And you have friends you wouldn't want Frodo to take after either." And technically the artist in question was a former boyfriend who'd talked him into said tattoo and some former piercings he'd never told Thorin about, which had long since healed,…but they didn't need to get into that.

Since Thorin could exactly argue the other man's point, Bilbo knew too many of his more 'quirky' friends, Thorin opted instead to nudge Bilbo's foot with his as he dryly pointed out that Bilbo couldn't deny that the odds of Frodo surpassing his cousins when it came to finding trouble were slim to none.

"That we can agree on, yes."

The mood having shifted into the positive as they smiled at each other knowingly, or as positive as they got these days when shagging and Frodo weren't involved, and that being the case Bilbo took a deep breath and said what he should have said before.

"I'm sorry about before, when I made that comment after you asked me to look at your books. I shouldn't have."

Surprise washed over Thorin's face for a moment before he adopted his usual mask of cool confidence as he inclined his head. "It's fine."

The mood wasn't quite as bright now, but they both lapsed into relatively comfortable silence after that as they went back to working on their respective laptops until they looked up at the sound of the study door being opened, smiling when in came Frodo in his glow in the dark polka dot pajamas, dragging his dragon stuffed animal behind him by its tail.

Knuckling his eyes with his free hand Frodo yawned widely as he came over to them as he mumbled that he couldn't sleep.

Immediately Thorin looked at Bilbo, who felt the man's gaze and knew exactly why the other man was giving him that look. It was because Frodo took after him when it came to his sleeping preference and they both knew it. Which was to say that if given the option both Bilbo and Frodo preferred to snuggle up with someone as opposed to staying by themselves in their beds. Not that they couldn't sleep by themselves, of course they could, but they loved to cuddle and Frodo, being only four, knew that he could usually talk one of his parents into letting him sleep with them so long as he 'tried' to sleep by himself first.

"It's not my fault. It's like blaming you for his eye color."

"You don't like his eye color?"

"No, of course not. Yours-they're beautiful. I just meant that-nevermind. Frodo, you need to go back to bed."

Knowing his parents well Frodo responded to that by getting up onto the couch and then taking a seat in Bilbo's lap, nuzzling his cheek against the soft cotton of his daddy's shirt as he stated that he wanted to stay with them.

"Oh yes, just like you."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

Thorin didn't bother to hide his smirk. "I mean that if I was a couch, my thighs would STILL have a permanent indent from your bottom."

Bilbo could feel his cheeks going hot, sputtering a little before he finally managed to get out an understandable sentence. "Well if I was a couch I'd STILL have scratches all over from your bloody beard!"

Feeling very confused as they made faces at each other, though he supposed he should be used to it by now, Frodo decided to take advantage of the situation and cocked out right where he was while his daddy and papa talked about couches for some reason.

)

The next morning they all sat down to a proper breakfast, Thorin and Bilbo dressed suits while Frodo was decked out in his preschool uniform. After some discussion it had been decided that Frodo could go to his school given that it was the best, most exclusive in London with all the security that entailed. It was where Thorin had gone, which was how Frodo had gotten in. They'd take him together and make sure that everyone involved knew the situation and that a special eye was to be kept on their son and that the school should be on a lookout for any suspicious characters showing any interest in Frodo at all. Once that was taken care of Bilbo was going to Erebor with Thorin to work in one of the empty conference rooms, just to be safe.

"Though I'll need to stop at my house around two, to put some stuff together." Bilbo informed Thorin as they went over their plans again. "But I'll take someone with me, pick up Frodo when it's time, and then we have a quick stop to make and then we'll come back here for the day."

"We gotta visit Radagast, Papa!"

"Who?"

Before Bilbo could stop him Frodo explained to his papa that Radagast was a funny man who lived in a tree in a park near their house. They brought him food sometimes, and he gots to pet the man's squirrels, birds, chipmunks and even a hedgehog!

"Bilbo." Thorin's tone said it all.

"He was my high school biology teacher…and he's an old university friend of Gandalf's. He just…consumed too many mushrooms over the year and-sorta loses touch with reality sometimes. He's harmless though, really, he's only living in the tree to protest the fact that the city's talking about paving the park over. Well…and he got kicked out of his last flat for bringing too many animals into it. The rats, especially."

Frodo giggled. "Papa's making a funny face."

That he was. "Really, Thorin, Mr. Radagast might not be normal, by any stretch of the meaning, but he really likes Frodo and he's expecting us. We visit every Wednesday after preschool."

"Fine, but I'll be the one taking you both to see him. I'll meet him myself."

Hearing loud and clear that he and Thorin would be going a round if the other man didn't approve of Frodo being around his former teacher, Bilbo grimaced but didn't argue. He'd save his breath for when he needed it.

The rest of breakfast went by without incident, as did the dropping Frodo off at his school. Once they arrived at Erebor, however, both were really aware of the eyes that were on them from the moment they stepped in and all the way to the top floor of the building. The reason why they were being stared at was on both their minds, it was unavoidable, especially when they passed by the jewel of Erebor so to speak.

The Arkenstone.

Most people, even those who'd seen it many times before, tended to stop for a minute to stare at its brilliance, marveling over the stone's oddly haunting beauty and perfection before tearing their eyes away with the secret hope to come back and again try to figure out what was so special about it.

Personally, there were no words on earth to adequately describe how much Bilbo hated the hunk of stone. And he'd majored in English as well as Business.

He'd always thought of Erebor's ultimate prize as the rock around the company's neck, submerging it underwater in an attempt to drown it. Selling the damn thing would have paid off the business's debts so quickly and easily that he'd talked himself blue in the face his first week here trying to get Thorin to sell it. But as he'd heard, until he wanted to gorge out his own eardrums, The Arkenstone was Erebor, and could never leave it.

Never mind that it was after one of the mines had produced the damn thing that Thorin's grandfather had started to obsess over money instead of what was best for his own company either, Thorin had been determined to keep it because it had meant everything to the old man. Had become a symbol, in Thorin's eyes, of what Erebor had once been, and what it would be again.

And in the end, when there had been no chance of saving Erebor from Smaug without the help of Dale Inc...he'd gone to Bard to ask about giving the man's company part ownership of the stone in exchange for their help. Behind Thorin's back.

Thorin had found out-and never forgiven him.

"Careful, or your face might stick in that expression."

Shifting his gaze over to meet Thorin's Bilbo just nodded and motioned for Thorin to continue in whatever direction they were headed.

He was grateful Thorin didn't say any more on the topic, though he figured that partly had to do with the fact that Thorin couldn't argue that what he'd done had ultimately saved Erebor. The deal hadn't gone through, obviously, Thorin had fired him and kicked him out of the company when he'd found out, but Bard hadn't known that and had come to Erebor's aid for free, believing that the offer had shown Thorin's true repentance for the way Thrór had nearly brought about the ruin of Dale too years before.

So Thorin had gotten to keep his company and his stupid stone…while he'd lost what he wanted most. Thorin.

Yay him.

Having reached their destination Thorin opened the conference door for them. "If you need anything you know where to find me. No leaving this floor without telling me, understand?"

Shifting the strap of his laptop bag on his shoulder Bilbo nodded, retrieved the second bag Thorin had insisted on carrying in for him from the other man's hand, and then stated that he'd be fine as he headed into the conference room.

)

Getting the fact that he'd basically been dismissed, Thorin watched Bilbo set up his laptop and supplies at the conference table from the doorway for a moment before closing the door behind him. Shaking his head he headed back the way he'd come, stopping beside the case that showed off the Arkenstone in all its glory, the sight one that inspired conflicting, often violent emotions in him. On the one hand he could still remember his awe the first time he'd seen it, the way he' been unable to help himself from visiting it again and again, staring at it through its case and nagging his grandfather to take it out so that he could run his hands over it. But he also remembered his grandfather being even more obsessed with it, and having it greet him every day after he'd been forced to take over the company from his father, seeming to mock him with the knowledge that selling it would get him out of the hole he was in. Knowing that he couldn't, but the idea had only aggravated in his mind by the yappy little business consultant Gandalf had stuck him with.

Smiling ruefully as he remembered that first day in what seemed a lifetime ago, when he had first laid eyes on Bilbo Baggins, Thorin supposed there was some irony in the fact that they'd first met in front of the stone. Of course then he hadn't known that the man Gandalf had asked him to meet would go on to fascinate and bewitch him even more than the Arkenstone, all he'd see was a cute, curly haired young man with a seductively curvy body that had reminded him, somewhat uncomfortably, of the fact that between the army and his two months dealing with Erebor's imminent demise, sex hadn't been in his cards in far too long.

Even while he'd been mentally taking off the very prim and proper three piece suit Bilbo had been wearing at the time he'd noticed when Gandalf, who hadn't seen him coming, had stopped and pointed out the stone to Bilbo, who'd looked at it for a moment and then had dismissed it so easily and turned to lock eyes with him instead.

Naturally he'd forgotten all about wanting to sleep with Bilbo within an hour of meeting him, killing him had seemed like the far more preferable course of action once they'd started talking business, but the seed had been planted so to speak, finally shooting out of the ground that day in the courtroom, when Bilbo had so eloquently spoken the words that lived in his own heart, but ones he had never had a hope of explaining to anyone when it came to what Erebor meant to him and his people. He'd-

"My dear boy, what have I told you about staring at that thing?"

Speak of the devil, Thorin mused as he turned around and tilted his head up to meet Gandalf's both amused and disapproving stare. "Hello, Gandalf."

"Thorin."

"I wasn't expecting you. What brings you by?"

The old man's eyes twinkled mischievously, making him seem a great deal younger than he actually was as they started to walk in the direction of Thorin's office. "Well as you know I prefer to be very mysterious and secretive about my plans, but in this case I'm pressed for time and haven't had nearly enough caffeine this morning. So…I've been guilted into helping collect donation for a charity event being hosted by friends of mine and I decided to come guilt you into donating something tastefully expensive."

"I see. Why are you limping?"

"Ah, I annoyed Charles this morning. He ran over my foot."

Not doubting for the moment that Gandalf had deserved being partially run over by a wheelchair, his kudos to the man's husband, Thorin didn't bother to ask what Gandalf had done now. Instead he stated that he would be willing to consider donating something, especially if he were to get Gandalf's opinion on his friend Radagast.

"Radagast? Now why on earth would he interest you?"

"I'm meeting him this afternoon."

"Now I am even more confused, which is not something-ah. It's Wednesday. You've learned that Bilbo's been taking Frodo to the park with him and you've decided to stick your nose in." Shaking his head Gandalf waved a finger in Thorin's direction. "Must I remind you again that I am Frodo's godfather, Thorin Durin? I'd never allow any harm to come to him, not even to help a friend. And I assure you that while Radagast unquestionably loves animals more than people-he basically thinks of Frodo as the former. It's adults he has problems relating to. How did Bilbo take the news you intended to come, by the by?"

"Since he's living with me for the moment we're trying to keep the arguments to a minimum."

"Living with you? Has hell frozen over while I wasn't looking?"

"No. He might be in trouble."

All trace of merriment disappeared from Gandalf's eyes like it had never been. "Tell me."

Thorin waited until they were in his office, and then he told his old friend everything that he knew, the other man's eyes going ever darker and more piercing. By the end of it Gandalf's hands were white at the knuckles, from griping the sides of his chair too hard.

"And of course he doesn't come to me. Takes after his father my foot. At the core he's a damn Took." Bringing his fist down on the top of the armrest Gandalf began muttering under his breath, the words not loud enough for Thorin to even begin to know what he was saying, though he had a pretty good idea. He'd had plenty to say about Bilbo's stubbornness over the years too.

And then Gandalf was done and looking at him with a speculative gleam in his eyes.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just thinking that it's interesting, that he's staying with you. That you're letting him, for that matter."

"Well of course he and Frodo are staying with me. Who else? He'd never risk you and all his friends are probably as good in a fight as he is."

"On the contrary, I can think of a few, one especially who would be more than capable of keeping the two of them safe had Bilbo gone to him instead. You might even meet him, should he find out about this. That would be a meeting I'd pay to see." Getting to his feet Gandalf smoothed down his trousers. "But I'm glad he and Frodo are with you. It will do you all some good."

It was on the tip of Thorin's tongue to demand to know who this other guy was, and exactly how well Bilbo knew him, but he'd long ago learned to watch out for Gandalf's traps, which was exactly what that little tease was.

Apparently realizing Thorin wasn't about to rise to the bait, at least not yet, Gandalf inquired as to just where he could find Bilbo so that he could scold the boy thoroughly for not appraising him of the situation immediate.

Thorin was happy to give him directions.


	5. Just Won't Leave

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in.

Just Won't Leave

Bilbo's ears were still red and burning hours after Gandalf had left, his fingers jabbing bad temperedly at his keyboard as he worked furiously to finish his report and try not to think about the conversation they'd had, which had ended with him feeling like he was a little, misbehaving boy. He really, really hated when the other man talked to him like he was a child, and now he had to worry about Gandalf worrying about him, which wasn't good for the man's heart or nerves. He'd hoped to avoid all this fussing and worrying by not clueing the other man about his possible stalker until it was absolutely necessary, but now that wasn't happening thanks to a certain someone. Damn Thorin. And damn the whole situation in general as far as he was concerned.

Though at least the visit had given him the idea to send emails to his friends asking them to look into what was known about Stoor on 'Middle Earth', a small silver lining but one Bilbo was prepared to cling to for the time being. These particular friends had created the site after all, and Stoor was a pretty well-known player on the RPG. And after all, he didn't play as much as he had before Frodo, Bilbo reasoned in the back of his mind, so it was only logical that he might have missed out on gossip that would help them find the guy so that his damn life could go back to normal. He'd tried to be circumspect on why he wanted the information, and was fairly sure that it would work on all but Beorn. His ex, who'd been in charge of the original design concepts for characters and backgrounds, knew him far too well and was as overprotective as Thorin could be. Gandalf had been surprised he hadn't taken Frodo and gone to stay with Beorn, which was what had made him realize he had another information source he needed to tap.

Shaking his head at the idea of what would happen if Thorin and Beorn were stuck interacting each other for any length of time, Bilbo silently pledged that if that happened he was treating himself to an island vacation in compensation for not killing either of them, and keeping them both out of jail too. As it was, it had taken all his skills and liberal use of his pregnant condition for him to keep Beorn from killing Thorin when his ex had learned about the situation he'd found himself in the first time. Of course Beorn would have killed Thorin for the broken heart alone if the man hadn't been in the States at the time and unaware of what was being kept from him.

Beorn had promised his mum, after his father had passed away, that if anything were to happen to her he'd take care of him for her. His former boyfriend, and now very close friend, took that promise very, very seriously. Sometimes scarily so. Thinking about the damage he and Thorin would do to his possible stalker was enough to drain all color from his face.

And yeah, he should also really stop thinking about the fact that his life too often resembled a bad soap opera whenever Thorin figured prominently in it, and turn his attention back to work before he gave himself ulcers.

Which he did. Mostly. With some success anyway. And then his stomach started to grumble a little, reminding him that it was almost lunch time. Not even the morning he'd been having could quell his appetite after all. It only increased it really.

Sighing, especially since he remembered all over again that he had forgotten, thanks to that stupid stone, to give Thorin his lunch before they'd parted ways earlier, Bilbo scowled into thin air. That forgetfulness meant that he was either going to have to run it over to the no doubt ungrateful jerk, invite Thorin to join him for lunch, or just eat the extra food himself and leave the constant, unfortunately only metaphorical, pain in his arse to fend for himself. He always had room for more when he was stressed after all, and being back in Erebor was definitely high on his list of stressful situation to be in.

Unfortunately he had told Thorin the night before that he'd make him sandwiches from the leftovers, and backing out now would just seem petty, or worse cowardly. And while he could take the food to Thorin…well why should he have to when he'd gone to all the bloody trouble to make the man lunch in the first place?

Puffed up with indignation at the very idea Bilbo pulled out his phone and sent a very brief and to the point message to Thorin stating if the man wanted his lunch he needed to come and get it pronto or it would be eaten.

There, Bilbo thought smugly as he put his phone back into his pocket. Now Thorin would have to come to him for once. It served him right.

Pleased with himself Bilbo turned his attention to retrieving the various items he had brought with him in the second bag, setting all of Thorin's Tupperware containers off to the side with a bottle of water, since he knew the man drank way too much coffee. If something killed Thorin prematurely it was damn well doing to be him and not the prat's abysmal eating and drinking habits.

Retaking his seat once he had his lunch all nicely spread out in front of him, it wasn't long before the door opened and Thorin came strolling in with his hands in his pockets, his head cocking to the side when Bilbo pointed in the direction of the unpacked food.

"You made me lunch?"

Bilbo's surprise was all over his face. "You thought I'd make Frodo's and mine lunch and not put anything together for you? I told you I'd make you sandwiches from the roast yesterday, remember?"

"I thought that would be my dinner."

"Right…because sandwiches are what I serve for dinner." Bilbo was insulted at the very idea. He was a Baggins for God's sakes! He could COOK!

"We had them plenty when we were together." Thorin pointed out as he pulled out the chair closest to his lunch and took a seat, reaching for the first container.

Watching the man, dammit he was going to stay, Bilbo forced his thoughts and words to center on what Thorin had just said and implied. "We often had sandwiches for dinner back then because I'd usually spent the whole bloody day butting heads with you or running around like a mad thing trying to fix the too numerous to list problems that seemed to erupt on a daily basis around here. I was too TIRED to do more than slap a few things between some bread for us."

A thoughtful pause and then Thorin admitted that yes, they hadn't had much of a life back then. Or energy once they left the building.

"If we left the building."

"If we left the building." Thorin agreed.

Shaking his head over the mess that was their former relationship, in all its forms, Bilbo pointedly turned his attention to his food, Thorin thankfully doing the same.

)

Nearly two hours after their lunch together both called it a day, unusual for Thorin to say the least, and headed out together to go to Bilbo's house and then pick up Frodo from preschool. As they drove in basic silence, though it was comfortable enough, Thorin mused over the thought that had come to him while they were eating, namely the idea that he didn't know the other man nearly as well as he should given that they'd spent over half a year in each other's company, five of those months as a couple. He wasn't completely clueless, he had listened when Bilbo had talked about his deceased parents, crazy relatives, and his plans for the future. And he did know something about his ex's favorite foods and such, though Bilbo would eat just about anything provided it was prepared right, but he couldn't help but think that the longer they'd been together the less they'd talked about themselves and the more they'd just talked about work. They literally had risen, eaten, and slept with the company and its problems those last two months.

He should have made more of an effort back then, or at least done more of the shoving stuff between two pieces of bread despite the fact that he just didn't have the nurturing genes that Bilbo had. The man literally loved to feed people.

"You should have been a chef."

"That would not have ended well. But thank you, I think."

Thorin glanced over at Bilbo and asked him why it wouldn't have ended well.

"Because I can't just taste things, I have to eat them too. In a year I'd have been bigger than I was when I was pregnant." He actually shivered at the thought. "And unless I'm knocked up again there's no way I'm ever getting that big ever again. The ugly clothes I had to wear alone…"

He would have chuckled, but the rest of Bilbo's words nixed that possibility. "Is that why you accepted that stupid date? Because you want more children?"

"I told you, I only went on that stupid date because I promised a friend I would. He's concerned I'm going to end up unmarried and all alone once Frodo grows up and such. And of course I want more children; I always said I envied you your siblings growing up. Though after this whole mess the idea of dating someone isn't even on the burner, much less the back one."

"I see."

"And no, to answer the implied other question, I wouldn't marry someone solely to have more children. I'd go artificial first."

"Artificial…seriously?" Thorin couldn't wrap his head around the idea, openly gawking at him.

"If it comes to that. And stop looking at me and focus on the road. If you kill us instead of my possible stalker, I'm going to be supremely displeased with you."

Lips twitching at the phrasing, Thorin pointed out that Bilbo was generally displeased with him.

"Ergo, making it ten times worse would not end well for you. Especially since we'd be dead and I'd have all eternity to make your life as miserable as I could. And don't say I'm too soft to do it, I'd find a way. Especially since we'd both be stuck watching Gandalf encourage Frodo to do all sorts of possibly dangerous things since he gets full custody if we both end up dead."

"Charles would keep him in line."

"Are you willing to bet on that?"

Okay, maybe not. Gandalf was one sly fox after all, and predicting his thoughts and intentions could often be as confusing as a pimped out garden maze with landmines buried in the ground underneath one's feet. "Why did we make him Frodo's guardian again?"

"Because he was the only person we could agree on."

"Ah. Right."

Thorin grimaced as he recalled the fights they'd had over who would have guardianship over their son should something happen to them both. A normal worry of course, but add in the money Frodo would stand to inherit on both sides, his claim to Erebor, AND the tensions between him and Bilbo…yes, it had not been a fun time.

Naturally he'd wanted his sister to be named, but at that time Bilbo and Dis had avoided each other like the plague and Bilbo had had plenty of ammunition thanks to the exploits of Fili and Kili to argue that Dis was not a fit mother for his baby. They were friendly enough now, but then… And he hadn't wanted any of Bilbo's family members to take Frodo because one, he'd never met any of them, and two, Bilbo hadn't had a lot of great things to say about most of them either. In the end Gandalf and Charles were the only two people they could agree on who would not only love their son and raise him right, but protect him from people who would try to get at his money.

When Frodo had turned three they'd both amended their wills to state that if Gandalf couldn't take Frodo for some reason than the boy would go to Dis. Bilbo had come to realize that not even a super mum would be able to keep those two in line.

Which reminded him…

"Dis wants to have all of us over for dinner this weekend, if that suits you."

"That would be lovely. I haven't seen the boys in a while."

Discussing what Fili and Kili had gotten up to lately lasted the rest of the ride, and then they were in Bilbo's neighborhood and both turned their attention to looking around, just in case. But everything looked normal as they pulled up in front of the garage, Thorin going around to all the doors first to make sure that there was no signs that the locks had been tampered with while Bilbo retrieved his mail from his box. Everything looked okay on both ends, no threatening letters and no signs that someone had even tried to enter the home in Bilbo's absence.

So Thorin let Bilbo unlock the door but went in first, checking the security system to make sure that everything looked good there. It did.

"Alright, then. I'm going to put the mail away in my office and then head to the kitchen. Would you mind going up to Frodo's room and getting his Squishy? He asked for it yesterday."

"Which one is that again?"

"Skin colored blob with multiple eyes and a Monster's University sweater on."

"Ah. I remember." Frodo loved that movie, even the scary parts. Ironically it was probably the reason that Frodo actively looked for monsters under his bed and in his closet with glee instead of trepidation. And since he wanted to get a look at the second floor to make sure there were no problems up there anyway, Thorin had no problem with his task, the two splitting up.

Knowing the way to his son's room Thorin headed straight for it, as always impressed by the murals of a forest and its creatures that decorated all the walls. Bilbo's former tattoo artist friend had done them. The man had some serious skills, he'd give him that. Frodo called him Uncle Teddy Bear.

Retrieving the toy from its place in the stuffed animal mountain Frodo kept near his bed, Thorin shoved the thing into his leather jacket pocket and then headed out and back into the hallway, looking up and down it for any-

Every door was closed except for Bilbo's.

Which could just be a coincidence, Bilbo would have packed and left in a hurry to get to him yesterday, but the man was also very much a creature of habit. And from his own experience Thorin knew that the open door was an anomaly.

Reaching into his jacket Thorin pulled out the gun he normally kept locked up at home and undid the safety, the weapon feeling like a natural extension of his arm thanks to years of training as he carefully and quietly took the few strides necessary to put him directly in front of the open door.

The room was in shambles.

There was broken glass and shredded clothing all over the floor, the cologne Bilbo sometimes wore stinking up the room due to the fact that the bottle's entire contents had been emptied or freed when the bottle was smashed. But it was the knife handles, four of them, sticking out of the torn bedding with reddish brown liquid drying in splattered pools around every one of them that had his cool begin to melt into a horrible combination of fury and fear.

And then he noticed the only thing not permanently scarred or broken in the room, a floor length mirror situated in one corner, its surface marred by words that had been written across the glass in red marker.

'Next Time'

All the blood draining from his face Thorin spun on his heels and ran back the way he'd come, his only thought was that he'd left Bilbo alone downstairs. Defenseless and unarmed. If anything happened to him, if he was even now bleeding out or-no. No that couldn't be. That couldn't happen. He couldn't lose him. He had to get to him NOW! And as Thorin thundered down the stairs he saw over the railing Bilbo running into view, wearing a frantic look on his face and with a large knife clutched in his hand.

But he was alive and appeared unhurt. He was okay.

Calling each other's name they collided at the foot of the stairs, the desperate hug they shared one armed since they were both armed, but heartfelt and tight as they both wordless expressed how grateful they were that the other was safe.

"He was in your bedroom."

"I was-I had everything all set out on the counter and-I needed a knife to cut up the carrots and I saw-four of my knives are missing from the block! Is he up there?"

"I doubt it, but I'll go up and check. You need to go outside, lock yourself in my car and call the guarda."

"No!" Bilbo's gaze went from fearful to fierce in a heartbeat. "You aren't going anywhere without me."

"There's nothing-"

"I'm not leaving you. Either we go up together or we go outside and make that call."

He wanted to argue, and gave some serious quick thought to tying the other man up so that Bilbo couldn't follow him and stashing him in the car, but Thorin knew better than to think he could get away with that. Just as he knew, more from the look in Bilbo's eyes than anything else, that there was no way they were going to be separated any time soon.

So he nodded and gave in, stating as they headed for the door that he'd call the guarda, Bilbo needed to arrange for Gandalf to pick Frodo up from school and then alert the staff there so that they knew it was alright for the older man to pick their son up.

"Yes, alright."


	6. A Police Investigation

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters end up in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way of it.

A Police Investigation

If anyone had asked Bilbo that morning what he thought was more likely to happen to him, getting hit by a car or being questioned by the police, he would have guessed the former. The average European driver was a lunatic after all, and he had never once in his life done anything that could be considered remotely illegal or cause to call the police. Well okay, some of the things he and Thorin had done in bed together would be frowned upon or considered against the law, but that was mostly in other countries that were run by idiots who shouldn't be in charge of upholding those laws in the first place.

Actually…okay, that wasn't entirely true…there had been that time…and that other time…and okay, he'd broken some laws having sex in places he shouldn't have, but all those times had mostly not been his fault except for that time when he really couldn't have possibly waited until they got back to his place and he had made Thorin pull into a deserted-

"Mr. Baggins?"

Cheeks flushing with color Bilbo forced himself to concentrate solely on the sergeant who'd spoken, trying not to squirm as he sat beside Thorin on his couch, trying not to show how aware of his ex he now was. "I'm sorry, what was the question?"

"It's fine. I asked who has your security codes besides you and Mr. Durin, and if you could tell us their relation to you and when they were last here. It would be helpful."

"Oh. Yes, of course. Uhm-well Grey Gandalf and Charles Xavier, my son's godparents and family friends have it, they were last here…three weeks ago I believe to drop off something Frodo left at their house the day before. Beorn Carrock, a good friend of mine, it's been about a month and a half since he was here, he doesn't like the city much…and my neighbor Hamfast Gamgee. He looks after the place when I'm gone, and I watch his son Sam sometimes. But none of them would ever hurt me. Not ever. Or give someone access to my home." He added, just in case it needed to be stated.

"And have you fought with any of them recently?"

"Well Gandalf and I went a round a little today, but that was just because he was mad he didn't know I was staying with Thorin. He's very protective of me. And I said earlier Frodo's with him, which should tell you how much I trust him."

"Why would he be unhappy that you're living with Mr. Durin at the moment? Were the two of you in a relationship previously?"

Bilbo stared at the sergeant, his mouth open wide in shock as he goggled at the man in stunned silence, Thorin thankfully coming to his rescue.

"Gandalf is old enough to be Bilbo's grandfather and considers him to be family and vice versa. He's also happily married, and were his interest in Bilbo anything other than grandfatherly Charles would know and have dealt with it already." Thorin's next words were muttered. "Sometimes it's like the man can read people's minds."

"He's a professor at Oxford." Bilbo added. "That's where they met. And I've already told you who must have broken into my house. He's the only homicidal maniac I've angered recently!"

"Recently?"

"Well there's a lawyer named Azog who hates my guts for helping Thorin save Erebor. He would probably desecrate my grave if I had one, but if he decided to kill me I'd be very dead right now. And you'd never find my body. Smaug was more of a sociopath, but he's dead now so he couldn't have done this soo yeah, it was definitely the stalker guy."

"Most likely, yes." The sergeant agreed, having already been filled in about the events leading up to this break in. "But there's also the possibility that this Stoor fellow was hired by someone to cause you problems. That can't be overlooked and needs to be investigated as well."

"But the only other person I irritate enough that he'd hire someone to kill me is Thorin, and Thorin would kill me himself!"

"Thank you for that."

Shrinking a little under the look his ex was giving him, Bilbo had to make a concentrated effort to sit up straighter and look less intimidated as he scowled right back. "It's just the truth. I've certainly thought about how lovely it would be to kill you a time or two too. And don't say you haven't thought the same because I bloody well know you have. You seriously wanted to kill me after the whole Erebor thing, if that hadn't been the case I would have come to see you sooner after Frodo was born!"

"Are you telling me that I had to wait all that time to know my son, my OWN flesh and blood and heir to MY company even existed because you thought I'd kill you?!"

"You told me you'd kill me if you saw me again! You threw me out of your building!"

"I tossed you out the front door, there's a difference, and I've apologized for that!" That he'd literally tossed Bilbo out, unaware that the other man was pregnant with their child at the time, was a very sore point with him and it showed on Thorin's face as the two exchanged fighting glares, not only forgetting their audience, but also how happy and relieved they'd been to find the other safe earlier.

"And I accepted your grumbled out apology, as you'll recall! I was simply stating that there are only four people that automatically come to mind that have ever truly wanted me dead and you're one of them!"

"I would never physically hurt you!"

"Now."

More glaring and then both of them sat back against the couch with their arms crossed and their scowling gazes aimed straight ahead, their postures and dangerous vibes making the sergeant squirm quite a bit as he tried not to look either of them in the eye.

)

The next questions were directed at Thorin to discuss his enemies and anyone he knew who might have a grudge against Bilbo. The conversation came to a halt however when the doorbell was rung, the sergeant getting up to see who it was. Since they weren't happy with each other at the moment Thorin and Bilbo just waited in silence, though both their attentions slipped in the direction of the main hallway where they could hear the sounds of a conversation going on, though too low for them to know what was being said. Who had been at the door?

And then the sergeant was walking back into the parlor with a faintly displeased look on his face, the man coming in behind him someone both Thorin and Bilbo recognized immediately.

"Detective Inspector Strider!"

"Bilbo, Mr. Durin." Nodding his head Detective Inspector Aragorn Strider came over to shake both their hands. He lived in the apartment building that Bilbo had lived in before he'd moved, and therefore knew them both fairly well. "I'm sorry to see you both again under these circumstances. I hope Frodo is well?"

"A familiar face is good, not that Sergeant Steward hasn't been doing an excellent job, because he has." Bilbo gave the other man a reassuring smile, since he was obviously a little annoyed his superior was apparently stepping in. "And Frodo's doing really well, he'll be sorry he didn't get a chance to see you. He still has that little wooden sword you gave him."

"Well perhaps I'll get to see him sometime in the future." The inspector smiled before addressing the other comment Bilbo had made since he was well aware of the fact that the sergeant whose case he was about to take over wasn't going to be happy about that.

"And yes, you were lucky to get assigned to Sargent Steward, he's one of our best." Aragorn gave Boromir a nod and then moved to take his sergeant's former seat. "If I didn't believe this was possibly connected to a case I'm working on right now I'd leave this in his hands and trust him to get the job done, and done well. But I do, which is why I'm stepping in here."

Shock and speculation was written all over Boromir's face as he looked back and forth between his superior and Bilbo. "You think this is related to-but he's not the sort who would-"

"Appearances can be deceiving."

"What's going on here? What other case? Did you know he was in some sort of trouble and not even tell him?!" Thorin would have gotten out of his seat and in the other man's face if Bilbo hadn't yanked him back down onto the cushion, telling him to wait a moment and hear Strider out.

Aragorn gave Bilbo a thankful look before assuring Thorin that while it had occurred to him that Bilbo could be in danger he'd ultimately dismissed the idea because he didn't fit the whole profile. He now believed that to have been a mistake on his part and he not only apologized but would explain everything, provided that the two promised to keep the majority of what he was about to tell them to themselves.

After a brief go around about who could and couldn't be told, Thorin insisted on being allowed to tell Dwalin and Bilbo had to tell Gandalf or the man would hound him to death, they came to an agreement and Aragorn clued them in.

"There have been five cases that I've found, spread out all over England. The only thing these five individuals had in common was that they were all experienced online gamers, and that in four of the five cases we've been able to confirm they went out the night of their deaths to meet someone, who we believe they brought home with them afterwards. The crime scenes and the way in which they were all killed all had enough similarities that we made the connections so to speak, but other than the gaming we've had no luck in discovering anything about this bastard until now. Until you."

"What makes you so sure this could be the same guy?" Thorin asked with eyes narrowed, sensing that there was something more that made the inspector think this was the guy he was after.

A hesitation and then a blunt answer. "The knives he left in Bilbo's bed are part of his trademark. It's what tipped the scales enough for me to come here instead of just keeping my eye on things because I know him." And leaving it at that, since he really didn't want to tell the two of them how those knives had been used on the other victims, Aragorn asked Bilbo to tell him every single detail about the date, no matter how small or in sequential.

Squaring his shoulders Bilbo took a deep breath for courage, and then letting it out went through a rundown of everything that had happened and been said between the two of them leading up to, during, and after the blind date from hell.

Once Bilbo was finished with that he gave Strider a physical description of Stoor, his face all scrunched up as he did so.

"I'm surprised his looks alone didn't have you running in the other direction." The guy sounded like the cross between an alien baby and a goblin to Strider.

"Oh believe me, I took one look at him and the first thing that came to mind was that I wouldn't snog him, much less shag him even if I was blindfolded and stuck in a black hole." Bilbo scowled and crossed his arms. "I felt bad about it at the time, I mean one can only help the way one looks so much, but now I wish I'd said it to the git's face. With Thorin there for backup…just in case…seeing as he is probably a serial killer and there would have been silverware for him to attack me with."

Now Bilbo went pale and then sickly green at the mental reminder that he'd actually had half a dinner with a serial killer. No one of his acquaintance was ever going to let him forget it, not to mention this pretty much guaranteed that he was never going on another date with anyone unless Dwalin ran a background check for him first.

"Concentrate on your breathing, there's stuff about breathing in that yoga nonsense, isn't there? And you went through labor as well, breathe like that."

Bilbo glared at Thorin but did indeed concentrate on breathing in and out so that he didn't throw up his lunch or faint. He'd fainted once in front of Thorin, the first day in fact after he'd been let in on just how fucked up the whole company was, and the bastard still made fun of him over it to this day.

"I see you two are getting along better these days."

Strider's comment had Bilbo and Thorin giving him dark looks while Sergeant Boromir just looked confused since to him the two fought like an old married couple who were just too set in their ways to bother with divorcing and instead were trying to verbally bash the other into an early grave.

Judging that Bilbo was up to continuing Strider pushed on. "You'll work with a sketch artist." It wasn't a question, he knew the type of man Bilbo Baggins was and knew the younger man would bend over backwards to try and get justice for those who'd lost their lives already.

"Of course." The idea of describing the creepy bloke again made his stomach hurt, but Bilbo wasn't about to let that stop him. He had a duty to those who'd lost their lives, above and beyond the fact that he wasn't going to get his own life back until this evil creature was caught and locked away in some horrible prison where very bad things would happen to him because he was a horrible person.

"Good. We'll get that taken care of now, and then we'll need to show it to Frodo to find out if it's the same person he saw at the grocer's. I know he's only four and you two don't like the idea, but we need to know if it's not just you he's after, but maybe Frodo as well."

They didn't like it, but both Bilbo and Thorin nodded in grim agreement.

)

Once there was nothing more they could do at the house it was time to head to the station so that Bilbo could work with the sketch artist. Strider had offered to provided him a ride so that Thorin could go and get Frodo, but that idea had barely left the inspector's mouth before Thorin had stated that no, Frodo was fine where he was and he was staying with Bilbo until they were home again. Bilbo didn't argue with that, and so the two headed for Thorin's car and pulled out after Strider, the intent being that they would follow him in to the station.

"How are you feeling?"

"The gingersnaps are helping." Biting into another one, Bilbo tried not to think about what his bedroom looked like at the moment. They'd wanted him to take a peek, see if anything stood out for him as missing, and now the carnage that had been done to his former sanctuary was forever burned into his mind. "I'm going to have to get a new house."

"There are companies that specialize in cleaning up crime scenes."

"I don't care. Frodo and I are never living in that house again."

Knowing that tone, there'd be no swaying him on this, Thorin wasn't about to argue the point. He was just fine with Bilbo and Frodo staying with him, and given how picky Bilbo was when it came to his living space it could be months before the man found something that he deemed good enough for him and their son.

"You should call Frodo now, before we get there. You'll feel better and this could take a while."

Bilbo thought about it and then shook his head. "No, I'll go to pieces if I try and talk to him right now. Gandalf said he's fine and I'll see that for myself soon enough, when I'm closer to being fine." A sideways glance, and then Bilbo's eyes dropped down to stare at the box of gingersnaps he was currently clutching in his hands. "As it is I don't know what I'd have done if you hadn't been with me today to keep me in one piece. I didn't thank you for that before, and I should have. I was just so scared and then you were okay and I was okay but everything else wasn't okay and-I'm very grateful you were here today."

"You're welcome."

Sharing understanding looks, they'd both been emotionally scrapped raw by the day they'd had thus far, the two lapsed into silence for a bit before Bilbo suddenly straightened a little in his seat, excitement coming into his eyes.

"When we get to the station I need to give Aragorn a more complete description of the ring. Maybe they can trace Stoor through it somehow."

"You said it was a gold band, was there anything distinctive about it?" Eyes sharpening, this was something he could help with himself instead of depending on others, Thorin mentally began to list the people he could get in touch with.

"Yes! There were weird symbols around it, almost like they were words but in a language I've never seen before. I'd definitely know it if I saw it, though, and Gandalf could maybe help me if it actually is a language and not just decoration." A frown of concentration. "It definitely didn't come from us or one of our close competitors, I would know."

Heart squeezing at Bilbo referring to Erebor as his, even though it was no doubt just a slip of the tongue, Thorin nodded instead and stated that they now had an assignment for tomorrow. They'd meet with his head designers and see if any of them recognized the symbols.

Bilbo smiled and nodded, glad to have something solid to concentrate on that didn't involve knives or the loss of his home.


	7. Here You're Safe

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put all my poor victims in.

Here You're Safe

Sitting in the waiting area Thorin couldn't help but glance in the direction of the jacket resting on the seat beside him. Bilbo's jacket. Someone had really cranked up the heaters in the building and he'd thought nothing of the other man leaving the article of clothing with him until he'd remembered what was in the front pocket of it. Or more precisely, the fact that he'd seen Bilbo sneak something off the floor of his bedroom when Strider had had him go up to look it over and see if there was anything obviously missing. The move had been slick, he'd give Bilbo that, but he'd just managed to catch it out of the corner of his eye. Strider hadn't noticed, and frankly it wasn't a move he would have expected of his former lover so he didn't blame the man for not keeping a closer what on him.

Which begged the question…just what had Bilbo taken?

Fingers literally itching to find out, and he was not a man who took kindly to not having his curiosity appeased, Thorin debated with himself for about five minutes before deciding to take a peek. If it was important to the investigation he'd have to rat Bilbo out or at least make him give the potential clue to Dwalin, and if not he'd stay mum on the whole thing and not even mention the grab.

Pulling the jacket over he slid his hand into the pocket and pulled out what was inside, the object in question turning out to be a CD in a clear case, the kind you bought in bulk from business supply shops. A burned CD as it turned out, that was labeled with a date only.

Putting the CD back into its place Thorin sat back in silent contemplation, eyebrows knitting as he tried to think of why Bilbo would have picked that of all things in the room to protect. The date was from about a month before they'd broken up, and logic would say that it was just one of Bilbo's work recordings. Bilbo had always had a habit of talking outloud and making a recording while he was having brainstorming sessions as a way to make sure he didn't forget anything. He knew the man often transferred those recordings onto his laptop and then discs for future reference because he'd see him do it.

But if this was just a business recording why hide it? Especially old business.

Or was he wrong about what was on it, and something had happened on that date that he wasn't remembering? Things had been crazy then, everyone running around like they'd be faced with the guillotine if they didn't, but he didn't remember anything important so it was probably nothing. And that being the case he couldn't ask Bilbo about it…unless he stated that it had fallen out of the man's pocket. That could work.

He was still debating over that when Strider came over to tell him that Bilbo probably wouldn't be with the artist for much longer.

"That was surprisingly quick."

"Beorn seems to have taught him a lot about drawing portraits and describing facial features. The fact that the bastard scared the bloody hell out of him and seared himself into Bilbo's memory helps as well. He's not deviating from his description one bit."

Intrigued by the fact that Strider had called Bilbo's friend by his first name instead of last, Thorin asked the other man how well he knew Bilbo's artist. It was, after all, always possible that Bilbo was wrong about his friend's loyalty to him and they still had yet to figure out how Stoor had gotten into the house without a key and the codes.

"We've met a few times, once when Bilbo called me over to his flat to help him get it into Beorn's head that if he hunted you down and ripped you to pieces with his bare hands he'd end up in jail for a good portion of his life. Lucky for you the thought of being locked up and therefore unable to take care of Bilbo and Frodo was enough to keep him in line." Aragorn's lips curved ruefully. "When he gets wind of this you're going to want to stay out of his way."

"He doesn't worry me."

"Ask to see some pictures. You'll see why I'm warning you."

Opening his mouth to argue that he could take some artist, Thorin decided not to push that aside until he had seen some pictures. Instead he opted to ask Strider about whether or not they should arrange for Frodo to be kept with Gandalf while Bilbo stayed with him. If there was a chance that the sick fuck would come after his son than he wanted Frodo with him, where he could protect him, but if Frodo would otherwise be left alone it would be better to keep him separate from them for the time being.

"I don't know. The other victims were all younger and none of them had children. As far as we know he got all the others at their first meetings and the lack of destruction in Frodo's room could mean little. Really the only good news I have for you at this point is that his failure to get Bilbo the first time is tripping him up. He's being stupid and that's good for us."

"Then we'll keep him with us for now."

"And I'll continue to hunt this bastard to the ends of the earth if need be."

)

Working with the sketch artist had definitely not been fun, but Bilbo had spent enough time around Beorn and his artist friends to know something about anatomy and the sort of language that they spoke when it came to the human face. So at least he wasn't stuck describing the evil creature for very long, and the artist was thrilled with him which was a nice change of pace really, since he was so little help to anyone otherwise. But finally he was free to go and with Thorin headed out to pick up Frodo.

The drive was long and quiet, neither of them really in the mood for talking, especially since they knew that once they got to their destination Gandalf would question them within an inch of their lives.

When they finally arrived and were let in by the maid they were ushered them into the library where they found Gandalf and Charles playing chess while Frodo cheered them both on, though he deserted them for his parents as soon as he saw them in the doorway.

Much cuddling resulted, followed by Charles taking Frodo out to go and collect the drawings he'd done earlier, leaving the other three behind to discuss the situation they found themselves in.

To say Gandalf hit the roof was an understatement.

It took some doing to convince the older man that they all shouldn't move in with him and Charles, but it was decided that if Stoor wasn't caught before he tried again Frodo would come and stay with Gandalf until the bastard had finally been hunted down and incarcerated. Or killed. It depended on who found him first.

That Gandalf was onboard for the second option was obvious.

Not even bothering to reason with them, he was at the end of his tether as it was, Bilbo just hugged Gandalf back as tightly as the man was hugging him, promising to call him twice every day and to keep him informed of what was going on.

"Good boy. You know your mother will come back from the dead to haunt me if anything happens to you on my watch."

"Thorin's got me covered."

"That's what I'm counting on."

Thankfully they couldn't talk about Stoor for long before Frodo was demanding their attention again, so after some final good byes and not so subtle hints and references to what had happened they headed out, Frodo doing all the talking as he told them about his visit with Radagast, the weird food he'd had for dinner with stuff he mangled pronouncing, and most especially all the fun he'd had sitting on Charles's lap and then racing through the hallways at top speed. It was definitely one of his favorite things to do.

Both of them egging him on, Frodo kept them occupied for the whole trip back to Thorin's place and the rest of the evening before they tucked him into bed for the night, keeping his door open just a crack so that if he called out for them they'd be more likely to hear him.

And now here they were, standing in the hallway, neither really knowing what to say to the other.

"He conked pretty quickly."

Grateful for the easy to discuss topic Bilbo even managed to work up a smile. "Gandalf, being Gandalf, no doubt gave him all the sugar he could want while he was there."

"Sounds about right." Thorin gave Bilbo's curls a careless stroke before awkwardly dropping his hand away. "I'm going to turn in, sleep well."

Returning the sentiment Bilbo watched Thorin walk over to his bedroom and head in, noting that Thorin was also leaving his door slightly open. Smiling over that for real, Bilbo sighed and then made his way to his own room, leaving his door open a little too.

He was glad to get out of his clothes anyway, Bilbo thought as he undressed, pretty sure he never wanted to look at them again, much less wear them. They could join the rest of his clothes back home in being given away to the less fortunate once he could arrange it. He couldn't bear the idea of wearing something that monster had touched with his bloody hands. The very idea made him feel sick to his stomach.

Thorin would think him foolish of course, but he didn't care. Besides, shopping would at the very least take his mind off things for a bit, and he so very much didn't want to think about the mess he'd landed himself into this time.

At least the last time he'd landed himself in a pickle of this magnitude he'd gotten Frodo out of the deal.

Laughing in spite of himself, and that did make him feel a little better, Bilbo finished dressing and then debated what to do next. It was actually still relatively early after all, and there was work on his laptop he could do or read perhaps. There was a telly in his room as well, but the idea that he might pick a program that showed violence of any sort turned him right off the idea. A bath perhaps…no…the idea of being naked as the day he was born and Stoor suddenly breaking in had Bilbo not only violently shaking his head, but had the ache in his stomach doubling. Bypassing the bed completely as a result, his arms wrapped tightly around his body, Bilbo walked over to the window seat instead, curling up there as he stared out the window at the back gardens.

Touching his fingers to the cool glass Bilbo sighed and wondered just how things could have gone so wrong. He was living with Thorin for gosh sakes! They hadn't even really lived together when they were actually dating!

Not that he hadn't thought they'd end up living together, he'd foolishly allowed himself to imagine that for far too long when he and Thorin had still been together and happy. He could imagine it now, foolish as that was, while sitting here. That this was as much his house as Thorin's, and that they'd just had one of their fights and so he was sleeping in one of the guest rooms to cool down and make the dumb idiot miss him enough to come crawling back. Most of their fights had been Thorin's fault after all. And just like always he'd come stomping in, scowling like he'd been sucking on lemons, and mumble something that barely resembled an apology. Then he'd snog the brains out of him until he was nothing but putty in Thorin's hands, and man, no one did make up sex like Thorin Durin.

Sighing dreamily at the thought, Bilbo leaned his head against the window pane as he remembered being ravished against any number of flat surfaces in both their offices. They'd fought more at work than anywhere else after all. And he'd noticed before, the last time he'd been in Thorin's office, that the other man's hadn't had the scratches sanded off the one desk leg yet. He'd done that one night, after a particularly bad argument that had ended with clothes being torn off and him searching for something to hold onto while Thorin's beard had been scratching up his inner thighs something fierce and Thorin's mouth and tongue had been driving him near to insanity. The order to keep his hands to himself had meant he couldn't hold onto Thorin, and his feet had been up in the air so to speak, so he'd grabbed the desk leg and scratched it with his nails during climax.

Thorin had been ridiculously smug afterwards.

He'd had a right to be so.

Sighing again Bilbo allowed himself wallow in those memories as the minutes ticked by, a singular, very appealing thought worming its way into his consciousness the more he sat there and thought about both the past and his currently very messed up present.

A very appealing thought.

)

In the army you pretty much learned to sleep when you could get it or paid for it dearly later. So he really should be sleeping, though lightly at the moment, but Thorin found himself unable to do so as he sat with his back against his headboard, a scowl on his face. The last part was mostly due to the fact that he knew Bilbo probably needed him right about now, the reality of the situation they found themselves in having had a chance to completely sink in, but there was nothing he could do about that because he was fairly sure that in the long run he'd just make things worse. He was utter pants when it came to that sort of thing unless it was Frodo, who threw off dark moods amazingly well so long as he was cuddled a bit.

Call him crazy but he didn't imagine that his ex would take kindly to being picked up and set on his lap.

Not that Bilbo hadn't spent time on his lap of course, Thorin thought with a chuckle, but in those cases the point hadn't been to cuddle per say. Occasionally it had sort of started out like that but he was only human, and having that sweet, round bottom snuggled up against his crotch or within easy reach for fondling had pretty much guaranteed the embraces hadn't stayed somewhat platonic for long.

Perhaps if they had things would have been better, but again, only human here, with a definite weakness for one Bilbo Baggins.

But maybe he should go and check on him, just in case, though that was liable to get Bilbo's nose all out of joint. The stubborn git would no doubt tear into him for so much as suggesting that he might need him to lean on. Of course he'd used to look forward to their little arguments since they'd so often ended with them mostly naked and shagging like bloody rabbits.

Thorin was fairly sure one would be hard pressed to find a flat surface in his office that didn't deserve to be bronzed for the action it had seen during those months he and Bilbo had been together. Especially his desk.

Full out grinning, especially when he thought of the scratches he still couldn't help but get an ego boost over even after all this time, Thorin was about to get out of bed and get dressed, maybe work out in his home gym for a bit, when his door opened and Bilbo's head popped into view.

"Am I disturbing you?"

He was, though not in the way he meant, but Thorin didn't say so as he told him to come in.

Watching as Bilbo entered, the slightly too big for him pajamas were utterly adorable, Thorin did his best to simply look mildly curious when the other man came to a stop on his side of the bed, Bilbo's face unreadable which was never a good sign. That was usually cause for worry, actually.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Bilbo shook his head, the fact that he was playing with the hem of his pajama top a clear indication that the man was indeed up to something. "I'm surprised you're still awake actually."

"My mind's too busy to sleep at the moment."

"Mine too. I was hoping you could help me with that."

At a complete loss as to where Bilbo could be going with this Thorin raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I don't want to think or sleep or dream tonight."

It was the look in Bilbo's eyes that gave the words their proper meaning, Thorin just barely able to stop his jaw from dropping down in surprise. Thankfully his next thoughts revolved around just how he could go about giving Bilbo exactly what he wanted.

Lifting up his covers with a gleam in his own eyes, Thorin smiled knowingly as he had the pleasure of watching color flare in Bilbo's cheeks and lust darken his eyes as Bilbo looked at him.

"You still sleep in the nude I see."

"I keep pajama bottoms under my pillow when Frodo's here."

"Good idea." And while he watched Bilbo shucked out of his own pajama bottoms and held then out to him. "Put mine under the other pillow for me, please."

Grinning, he'd always found it adorable and strangely sexy how Bilbo could get all prim and proper when it came to shagging despite how decidedly improper he could be with the right motivation, Thorin took the offered article of clothing and turning put it under the pillow before turning back just in time to watch Bilbo finish unbuttoning his shirt.

So it was his turn to let his eyes run hungrily while Bilbo folded the shirt up and set it aside, Thorin holding the blankets up again for him, grabbing and pulling Bilbo under him as soon as he was in reach so that he had the other man pinned down in exactly the position they both wanted to be in.

"Thorin."

Loving the feel of Bilbo's fingers as they grazed his beard before getting lost in his hair Thorin obeyed the unspoken command and lowered his head to claim what was his, Bilbo's lips eagerly meeting his.


End file.
